Ciudadanos is seriously considering not running in the general elections called yesterday by surprise by the Prime Minister after the uncontested victory of the PP. The party’s general secretary, Adrián Vázquez, announced yesterday that the Orange Executive has summoned its National Committee “urgently” for this Tuesday to make a decision on the matter, a decision that, according to some media such as Voz Populi or El PaÃs, already would be taken However, Vázquez himself warned this Tuesday on his Twitter account that in the face of this information “that decision ONLY and EXCLUSIVELY can be made by the National Committee that meets today at 11:00.”
The Executive had convened this committee for next Monday, but they have decided to bring the meeting forward in light of the events after the election day of May 28 was a severe setback for Ciudadanos, who have not managed to obtain representation in any of the autonomies in contention and has also been left out of the Madrid City Council, where Begoña VillacÃs held the vice mayor’s office. The national spokesperson, Patricia Guasp, has not been able to revalidate her seat in the Balearic Islands either, an autonomy where she was fighting for the Presidency of the Government.
The National Committee is chaired by the party’s general secretary, Vázquez in this case, and is made up of the party’s extended leadership, a total of 30 people. In this committee, constituted after the process of refounding the party, there are, for example, VillacÃs and the former orange president Inés Arrimadas.
According to the Ciudadanos statutes approved in January, it is the party’s management, government and administration body between Assemblies. In addition to approving the party’s participation in electoral processes, it also has the power to approve any coalition agreement with other parties, both at the regional and national level.
If Ciudadanos decides to run in the elections, they need to name a candidate, which they currently lack. The statutes stipulate that the candidate for the Presidency of the Government of Spain must be chosen through primary elections, but at the moment it is unknown if they could name someone without having to go through the process because the elections have been called in advance.
Vázquez stressed yesterday that this Monday’s meeting of the Standing Committee has been to assess the results of Sunday’s election day and that they were “unaware” of Sánchez’s announcement, so they have not been able to go further in this Monday’s meeting.
The general secretary also valued the “titanic work” of the party during the electoral campaign, but has recognized that “they row against all odds” and, “in such a polarized situation”, the ideological space of the center is the one that “suffers “. In the same way, he was “proud” of the work to refound the party that concluded in January. This has been the first electoral call that the new ‘orange’ Executive, constituted just five months ago, has faced.
Along the same lines, the national spokesperson for Ciudadanos, Patricia Guasp, expressed regret that the municipal and regional elections have been understood as a “plebiscite” for Sánchez and between the left and right blocks.
In parallel, he insisted that the liberal center space “exists” and that the project that Ciudadanos defends “is the most necessary in this country.”
